Rielle Hunter told Oprah Thursday that she was helping John Edwards find his 'authentic self.'

(CNN) – Despite many people telling her it wasn’t the best idea to sit down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview, Rielle Hunter – politician John Edwards' mistress – decided to do it anyway.

"I feel in my heart it’s the right thing to do," Hunter said Thursday, especially now that "Johnny," as she calls him, has admitted paternity of their daughter, Frances Quinn.

Hunter said she wanted to set the facts straight about who she is, and that while she understands the judgment that has been heaped upon her, she doesn’t see herself as a home wrecker or gold digger, she told Winfrey.